Between Heart Beats
by Unnamed.in.whispers
Summary: Morgana has Gwaine captured after he and Percival ambush her in the final episode [Diamond of the Day]. She chooses Gwaine to torture, again… why she chooses him is something only she will know and it is a story told between heart beats…


**Title:** Between Heart Beats **Pairing:** Morgana/Gwaine

**Series:** Merlin

**Rating: **12**Type: **AU/ Angst

**Summary:** Morgana has Gwaine captured after he and Percival ambush her in the final episode [Diamond of the Day]. She chooses Gwaine to torture, again… why she chooses him is something only she will know and it is a story told between heart beats…

This is a slow-burner guys... lots of stuff to build up!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Merlin characters or anything from the universe of Merlin. I am just taking the characters and playing with them a while – promising to restore them whole and unblemished! Thanks to Shine Productions for creating these toys for me to enjoy. Please don't take any of my playing as having any bearing on the actual series. Enjoy.

()

Rope felt good when you pulled the twine tight; it moaned and protested, but held firm.

She liked the thought of her prey being unable to touch her. She liked the idea so much it brought a smile to her face before the twinge in her side caused the expression to sour.

Morgana breathed through the pain; it was a fresh and searing sort that sliced into each movement and burned into every moment.

She could heal the wound, if she chose… it wasn't as though she had never been stabbed before, but this hurt more than most…

She had been tricked; led into a trap by the man who now lay on the ground before her.

Gwaine remained prone on the soft ground; he looked appealing, sprawled at her feet and bound by the wrists.

Always he stirred a longing within her; she hated that… the feel of her heart thudding in her chest by the mere glimpse of the man's handsome face or the flash of his brilliant smile.

She shook herself – thoughts like those are what lead to her being ambushed and attacked. One moment of weakness… Morgana hated weakness.

The rope twisted a little tighter… The pain in her side cleared her mind.

She was always too weak around this man; it made her hate him. When she thought of all the times she wished she could touch him, all the times she just wanted to hear the sound of his voice or surrender to the comfort of his arms holding her…

She wasn't weak! Morgana Pendragon needed no man in her heart or in her bed. She desired neither their company nor the presence…

Save for him.

Gwaine stirred slightly and Morgana felt her heart skip before she beat the feeling down. It made her stomach turn, how this man could affect her so.

Gwaine was nothing special. She had seen many fine men during her time in Camelot. She was accustomed to the bravest and the strongest and the most noble.

He was no different. He was no more handsome.

But here she was; staring with softness at the face she adored. Watching him breathe and wanting to reach out to feel his flesh…

It maddened her. How could she be so conflicted? He had just tried to kill her, after all. Why didn't that seem to matter?

Standing, she turned to the other man who had aided Gwaine in his ambush… Sir Percival…

One look at the gargantuan and she knew there would be no moving him…

Casting a simple spell lifted the man from the floor and bound him to the tree; she had no time to waste on him. She knew Percival was simply the brawn behind this attack. He was there to clear the ground while Gwaine sought her out.

She turned back to the knight in question and thought, hatefully, of how easily he had been seduced by the blonde she had sent his way.

Eira had been told exactly how to reach the heart of the brave and loyal Sir Gwaine… by the person who knew him best…

Morgana felt her heart twist.

It shouldn't have been so easy for him to fall in love with the other woman. It should have been obvious who the voice behind her words had been… But he had never known.

The last high priestess of the old religion stirred in Morganas soul, telling her she was wasting time and that she should set herself to the task of finding Arthur…

Gwaine had sealed his fate; he would die for it…

Morgana looked upon him once more before the darkness overwhelmed her; she would grant him these precious moments of peace before the end…

She bent and kissed his forehead and he roused, ever so slightly…

"Ssssh," she soothed, smoothing the lines creasing his brow, "I know something that will help you sleep…"

()

"Excuse me?"

"I said," he smiled, "I know something that will help you sleep…"

The lady Morgana blinked; feeling her chest tighten as a blush flamed across her cheek…

He flicked his chocolate hair and grinned, making heat rush to her face as she shook away her shock, "I just came to see Gaius…"

"For a sleeping draught," the man said, plucking an apple from the bowl of fruit before him, "I heard…"

"And you can help me in his stead?"

The man walked toward her, stopping but three feet away to lean to the side and pull the waiting bowl of fruit from the dining table before the hearth, "I can try," he suggested, bending to meet her eyes.

He was handsome… Morgana felt the heat rise on her pale skin…

She kept his eye, "Will he be back soon?"

"Are you wishing our time ended so quickly?" The man asked, feigning disappointment, "I should think I am adequate company while you wait for the apothecary…"

"Adequate company…" she mused, trying not to let her eyes wander down the strong column of his throat, across his broad shoulders and lower… "I hardly think so…"

"We are of a kind, I think…" he smiled…

Morgana felt her nose wrinkle, "Do I know you?"

"Sadly not," he replied, taking an overly large bite out of the apple and angling it toward her, "I would remember meeting you, my lady…"

_Lady!_ Morgana remembered, _I'm a lady… so who is he…_

"Better introduce yourself, then…" she suggested, stepping slightly closer to him.

"I am Gwaine…" he flourished, giving a low bow… "Ever at your service…"

"You're a knight then?" She hoped…

Gwaine gave a shrug, "I have been known to give a little sword-play…"

She felt the breath carry his scent, it was earthy and clear, stirring desire within her, "I am Morgana…"

His eyes widened… "The Lady Morgana?"

She blinked; her mind staggering from the warmth their flirtations had created… "Yes."

"Uther's ward?!" Gwaine continued, his surprise morphing into a wide, amused grin.

Anger started to build from insult, "Is there a problem?"

Blowing the breath from his lungs, he tilted his head, causing his hair to cascade…"Not at all… I just had no idea you were so…"

"What?" She asked, impatiently.

"Beautiful…"

The world stopped; she actually felt the inertia drag to a halt beneath the weight of the word… so how was she still standing?

There was no air… there was nothing but his eyes… which closed as he leaned toward her…

"Lady Morgana!" Gaius clattered into the room, burdened by books and vials and herbs and hardly noticing the lady and the man in the room startle apart… "I must apologise for my tardiness, I was delayed by the old baker who was showing all the symptoms of scarlet skin burn until I noticed his larder was filled with freshly pickled beetroot!"

Steadying herself, Morgana dismissed Gaius' apology and watched Gwaine retreat into the room… she hoped that she would have the chance to speak with the handsome knight once more… but, for now, she was the kings ward… and had to live up to that expectation.

With a bottle of sleeping draught, she left the apothecaries chamber… not giving her handsome observer a backward glance…

()

And so the day was won… as far as Morgana could tell. Two rogues had impersonated knights and attempted to kill Arthur…

They had been defeated by the heir to the throne and another who came to his rescue… Gwaine…

The castle was filled with excited chatter; was this man a nobleman? Was he a knight?

No – he was a commoner… and Uther banished him from the kingdom.

Morgana felt her heart grow heavy with the thought of not seeing him again… it tore and pained her… The greater part of herself whispered how absurd she was, to feel such a way for a man she hardly knew… But the quiet voice that sobbed at the prospect of never seeing his bright smile or sparkling eyes won the day.

She found herself, cloaked, waiting at the city gates as Gwaine bid farewell to the friends he had made on his visit; Merlin, Arthur, Gwen…

He strode toward her, looking straight out to the road ahead until something made him turn in her direction; his smile turning several shades brighter…

"You are here, My Lady," he breathed, taking her hand and placing a kiss there.

"I wanted to say goodbye," she explained, trying to keep the tremble from her voice.

"No," he sighed with a wink, "never goodbye… just…until next time…"

Morgana felt her breath hitch in her throat. "There won't be a next time," she explained, "You aren't a knight… you will never be permitted to enter Camelot…"

"No…" he admitted, "I am not a knight. But, if you permit me, I can show you the night... it will be beautiful and free. Just how you wished it… and I can have you back by morning…"

"No one would ever know…" she said slowly, letting the words sink into the air.

Gwaine laughed, "Just one night…"

Standing at the mouth of the castle, he reached out his hand, inviting her.

What was the harm in joining him for one night? Just one little night… she would have a whole lifetime with another but for just this short time…

Before she had finished thinking, Morgana found her hand closed in his and she smiled…

Gwaine tugged her after him and they left the citadel.

()

Morgana had never really been to a tavern. She had walked by many on her trips around the Kingdom, but it had never seemed like the done thing for a lady to frequent places of such disrepute!

That's what everyone in court told her, at any rate.

But she was happy listening to Gwaines battle stories, tucked away in the corner of a dark bar, in which she was clearly the only woman; nothing obvious about a clandestine meeting there then.

Morgana sighed; what was it about this mans voice that meant she could listen to even the most mundane tale of his and she wouldn't notice the content? She believed she could listen to him all day without tiring.

There was something deep and enticing about the way his voice affected her; it carried her away into a different level of consciousness; made her imagine...

"I see your cup is running a little dry, lady." Gwaine observed, lips puckering as she watched their formation... "Shall I fetch you another."

But she declined, noticing how late it had gotten and asking him to walk her back to the citadel before it was noticed she was absent.

She hadn't wanted to draw the night to a close so quickly; but there would be a penalty if it was discovered she had been with a man who had just been exiled that morning...

A man who proved to be a challenge to Uther.

A man who had saved the life of the prince to be rewarded with exile.

A man who was drawing her into his embrace.

Morgana swallowed the nerves that were freezing her in this moment and allowed herself to enjoy the warmth he offered, nestled in his arms and braced against his chest.

She closed her eyes…

()

Morgana pulled the rope in her hands and felt her teeth grit.

Gwaine was secured; he would not break-free…

The night had been beautiful… there was rapture… Gwaine was a perfect gentleman, filled with honesty and valour and all those things a woman might desire… save for commitment.

He was gone the next morning… and she, fool she was, found herself treasuring their shared moments in the moonlight.

Now – so many years later, she could appreciate the fool she had been in her youth. She had thought so many things of the man that now lay bound and prone on the grass at her feet.

And she would make him pay before this day was over.


End file.
